


You're My Golden Hour

by queentheea



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clarke is a sneaky sneak and Bellamy is a dorky dork, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, I could add more tags but I don't want to give it all away, artist!Clarke, just tooth rotting fluff honestly, my two fave things, obviously I was listening to Golden Hour on repeat while writing this, t100fic4blm, writer!bellamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queentheea/pseuds/queentheea
Summary: Clarke can't stop sneaking off with her boyfriend's manuscripts when he finishes a new book. He probably doesn't care that she reads them anyway.Prompted with just a moodboard for The 100 Writers for BLM initiative.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 30
Kudos: 150
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	You're My Golden Hour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sparklyfairymira (myonetruelove)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myonetruelove/gifts).



> It's so sad that The 100 ended at season 6 and we haven't had content since then! Oh well!
> 
> This moodboard really spoke to me and I immediately had an idea for it that I had to get down on paper. I hope you all like this piece of fluff (with plot) that I couldn't get out of my head.
> 
> Real talk though, this prompt was through The 100 Writers for BLM, which is a wonderful initiative and we've raised so much money already! If you'd like to prompt me or one of the other lovely writers involved check it out on [Tumblr](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com)! We're happy to indulge your AU fantasies or fix the atrocity that is current canon, whatever you like!
> 
> Thank you to bellarkestitchdelena for betaing this for me!

Fall is Clarke’s favourite season for many reasons. The colors changing make her artist’s hand twitch as she longs to grasp a paintbrush and bring the scene to life on a canvas. It isn’t quite cold enough for winter coats yet, but she’s able to pull her favourite sweaters from storage and curl up on the bench in the park with a hot drink and a book. Not to sound like a basic white girl or anything, but Clarke definitely loves her fall drinks. There’s just something about pumpkin spice and crisp apple cider that makes her feel at home as the seasons change in Seattle.

And of course, there’s always the fact that summer is Bellamy’s most productive writing season. By the beginning of September he almost always has a new manuscript ready to send off to his editor.

To say Clarke’s relationship with Bellamy had started off on the wrong foot would be an understatement. In the early days, it felt as though they were arch-nemeses. They’d met in college in a third-year creative writing elective that Clarke had been taking. Bellamy and Clarke had been paired together for a project and not ten minutes into the brainstorming session they got into an explosive disagreement about character motivations in the short story they were supposed to plan and co-author.

Clarke had said something about how one of their characters should react to move the plot forward without knowing Bellamy had based the character off his own lived experience. Bellamy had accused her of being a pompous princess that didn’t know anything about him or his life. Clarke may have provoked him further. They’d both been very stupid.

Months later, when they ran into one another at a bar, They both realized that despite previous events, they got on rather well. It didn’t take Clarke too long to realize that she actually liked Bellamy, when there was a time she didn’t think she’d ever be able to even tolerate him. She definitely didn’t expect to date him, or for their relationship to hold when she decided to go for a semester abroad and they’d tried long distance. Some things really can change in the blink of an eye. The last five years with him have been the happiest of her life.

While Clarke had only taken the one elective in creative writing, Bellamy had finished his degree in it, with a minor in history. By the time they graduated, he had almost two novels worth of historical fiction written and ready to pitch to whoever would publish it. It didn’t take too long for him to land a publishing deal, because he was Bellamy and as Clarke had been stubbornly unwilling to admit at the beginning of their feud, he had a true talent for writing.

Bellamy writes all year long, but summer has always been his biggest push. He gets notes back from his editor and spends all of August slaving over his laptop making final revisions, before printing off a physical copy of the finished novel to send in to his editor just as fall hits. Clarke usually spends the days she isn’t working at the local art museum trying to coax him away from his computer with kisses and promises to force him to eat something.

Clarke has developed her own little tradition since noticing Bellamy’s predictable writing schedule. Throughout the year, he’ll bounce ideas off of her for his new book plot and character overviews. Sometimes he’ll ask her to help troubleshoot areas when he gets stuck. For that reason, she’s always had a general idea of what his books are about and where he intends to take them, but Clarke wants to be the first one to see the story play out from beginning to end.

The first time she did it, she’d stayed the night at Bellamy’s apartment one day in early September. Clarke had always been a morning person and Bellamy certainly, well, he just, wasn't. She’d been making a pot of coffee when she noticed his first ever completed manuscript sitting on the end of his desk. It was the Friday of the long weekend, so she knew he wouldn’t be shipping it out until at least Tuesday. Clarke was itching with curiosity, and the need to be the first to read Bellamy’s writing. She didn’t really think much more about it before swiping the manuscript off his desk and making her way out onto the porch, warm drink in hand.

Clarke had stayed there for hours, glued to her seat and completely engrossed in her boyfriend’s writing. Only when she heard the shower turn on and him yell for her to join him did she put the manuscript back on his desk where she found it. Clarke had repeated her morning routine for the rest of that weekend, and managed to finish the whole book before he shipped it off to his editor.

After that first year it had just become a habit every fall when he finished a new novel. As soon as Bellamy prints a new manuscript, Clarke gets up early enough to sneak a few hours of reading in before he wakes. It becomes easier to do when they move in together. She’d even claimed a bench at the park across from their apartment as her own.

Clarke keeps her reading endeavours to herself. At first it was because she was afraid of Bellamy’s reaction if he found out she’d been snooping. Now that she knows him well enough, she knows he’d be more than willing to let her read them if she just asks. At this point, Clarke is almost certain that he’s figured it out anyway, though he never says anything to her about it.

Today, Clarke untangles herself from Bellamy when her alarm goes off at seven. He’s always been a heavy sleeper and he just flips over and lets out another soft snore. Clarke smiles at him fondly before walking towards their closet and pulling on a soft sweater and a pair of worn jeans.

She enters the kitchen and turns on her coffee maker. She smiles to herself as she notices Bellamy’s newest manuscript sitting on the edge of his desk. A couple years back, the publishing company had told Bellamy there really wasn’t a point in submitting a paper copy of his manuscript anymore when they receive the digital version anyway, but he has still done it every day since. When Clarke asked him why one year he had laughed.

“It’s tradition,” Bellamy said as he passed her coffee cup to her. “It almost feels like a good luck charm of sorts. Encouragement that the book will sell maybe? Does that sound stupid?”

To Clarke, it didn’t sound stupid at all. It was adorable, and just so Bellamy. If it meant she could continue her own little secret tradition of reading all his manuscripts before he submits them then well, that’s a plus too. Besides, his editor Harper never seems to mind receiving both of them.

When the coffee maker dings, Clarke is snapped out of her reverie. She pours her coffee into a to-go cup and snatches Bellamy’s manuscript off the table along with her keys. She makes her way down the stairs and out the door of their apartment.

The crisp fall air hits her immediately and she clutches the both the manuscript and her beverage a bit tighter. This fall has started off cooler than most, but Clarke continues on her way across the street to her bench in the park. Tradition is tradition.

Clarke takes a seat and settles the manuscript in her lap. Bellamy had told her a little bit about the plot of this book. He decided instead of a full length novel that he wanted to publish a collection of related short stories. Most of them were set throughout different periods of history. Clarke took a sip of her coffee and flipped to the first page.

As she makes her way through the first story, certain elements float through her head with a ghostly familiarity. The story is set in the early middle ages, and focuses on a wealthy family. The protagonist is the family’s eldest daughter, expected to marry rich. She finds herself teaming up with a local farmer’s son who is framed for the theft of the family's riches, as the two try to clear his name.

Clarke only gets a few pages in before she realizes why this story feels so familiar. It’s the short story that they wrote together back in college. The first time they met. Clarke goes back to the beginning to check the byline. Sure enough, there it is. Her name, written right next to his.

Clarke flips through the pages idly as she stares, shocked. Bellamy has cleaned a few sections up and made a couple slight changes to their original project, but at the heart it was still the same story. The sentiment of it makes Clarke feel as though she’s falling in love with him all over again.

Her head still spinning, Clarke continues to turn the pages to the following stories. They’re all familiar too, but not in the same way as the first. The second story is set in the old west. It’s about a man and a woman coming from rivaling sides of town, but one day they meet in a bar and put all their personal differences behind them. The third is set post-World War I. Two lovers meet again after being separated.

Clarke continues reading and her confusion turns to overwhelming joy as she finally realizes what she’s reading. Bellamy has written each installment of their love story into his new book. He started with a piece that they wrote together and continued on from there.

Clarke has reached the end of the book a couple of hours later. For the first time in years, she’s completely lost track of time. There is one page left in the manuscript after she’s read the final short story. Clarke flips the page. It’s the acknowledgements. Bellamy doesn’t usually print them out. She stares down at the page curiously. As she stares, she hears a familiar voice behind her speak the words on the page.

“I’d like to thank the love of my life for inspiring these stories, but first and foremost I’d like to thank her for challenging me to be the best writer I can, even from day one. The first story in this book was co written with her years back. Don’t tell her. It’s a surprise. Clarke, you inspire me everyday, and I hope that I can spend the rest of my life continuing to share every little moment with you.”

Clarke turns rather rapidly and sure enough, there’s Bellamy right behind her, reading out loud over her shoulder.

“I figured I’d find you here,” he says with a subtle smirk. So he had known, all this time.

“Bellamy this, it’s—”

“All for you.”

“I—I don’t know what to say,” he has in fact, rendered her completely speechless. He wrote her an ode to their love story.

“As long as we’ve been together, I’ve wanted to shout from the rooftops about how much I love you. I wanted the whole world to know. Clarke, you complete me. There is no one else in my life that challenges me and pushes me to be the best version of myself the way that you do. The first time we met, we couldn’t stop fighting, but even then I was attracted to you.”

Clarke giggles as he comes around to the front of the bench and takes her hand.

“I guess I just needed to find the perfect way to show you.”

“Show me what?” Clarke asks slowly.

“That I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Bellamy takes a deep breath, then gets down on one knee, and flips open the little box in his hand. “Clarke Griffin, will you marry me?”

Tears well up in Clarke’s eyes as she places her empty coffee cup and the manuscript on the bench and gets down on her knees next to him. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”

Bellamy smiles wide as he takes her face in his hands and kisses her. Clarke melts into him. She doesn’t know how long they sit there wrapped up in one another, but eventually Bellamy pulls away and stands up, grasping her hands in his as he does. He pulls her up off the ground and lets out a soft laugh. Clarke laughs too, and as he slips the ring on her finger, she realizes just how happy she really is.

They take a seat on the bench together and he plays with her fingers. A comfortable silence passes over them for a few moments as Clarke revels in the moment.

“So. It’s good to know you’re a fan of my writing,” Bellamy says with a shit-eating grin, gesturing towards the forgotten manuscript. Clarke blushes a deep shade of pink and smacks his arm.

“How did you even know about that?”

“I woke up early one morning a couple of years ago and wondered where you went. I looked out the window and saw you sitting on the bench with a stack of papers in your lap. That gave you away,” he wraps a finger around one of her blonde locks fondly. Clarke bats at his hand. “Sure enough when I checked, the manuscript was missing from my desk. Convenient, huh? I kept printing them out just for you. You could have just asked to read them, you know.”

“Where's the fun in that? Besides, what’s yours is mine and vice versa. Isn’t that how the whole marriage thing works?”

Bellamy lets out a deep laugh. “Never a dull moment with you, Princess.”

Clarke leans into his side and smiles. Their story doesn’t end with his book. She gets him for the rest of her life. That sounds pretty good to her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
